Reports: Former Seahawks player John Moffitt charged with battery, drug possession

Former Seattle Seahawks guard John Moffitt, who quit football during the middle of the 2013 season, was reportedly arrested early Sunday in Chicago and charged for drug possession and battery.

Moffitt, 27, was arrested about 4 a.m. CDT Sunday outside a Chicago nightclub after allegedly punching a man who confronted Moffitt about selling drugs inside the club, according to a report from crime news site DNAinfo.com. When police cuffed him, he was reportedly in possession of pot, cocaine and ecstasy.

John Moffitt looks on from the Seahawks bench during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 16, 2012, in Toronto. (Getty Images)

Here’s more from DNAinfo’s Emily Morris:

The victim told police that he had been questioning Moffitt about selling drugs inside the nightclub when Moffitt became “combative” and hit the victim in his head, an arrest report states.

Officers arrived and placed Moffitt into custody, after which they discovered he had 10 grams of pot, 1 gram of cocaine and four pills of ecstasy, according to the report and Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Gersch.

Seattle’s third-round pick out of Wisconsin in the 2011 NFL Draft, Moffitt started 15 games through two seasons with the Seahawks on the offensive line — including nine starts his rookie year before being suspended the final four weeks for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. In 2012, he started six games and appeared in eight, but was nearly always on the hot seat.

“I’m ready to live a different kind of life,” Moffitt then told Sports Radio KJR in Seattle.

In a sympathetic feature in The New York Times, Moffitt said he quit not because of his diminishing playing time but because he didn’t want to “risk health for money.” His disenfranchisement with the business side of the NFL was palpable, as he told the Times he was tired of injuring himself for the pleasure of others.

“They are merchandising human beings, let’s be honest,” he told the Times’ Ken Belson, adding: “You kind of let go of that dream that you kill yourself for, to be a millionaire, and you see through it and see that it’s just a facade. … I let go of all of that.”

During his time with the Seahawks, Moffitt had run-ins at Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and the Eastside’s other Kemper Properties, from which Moffitt was banned in early 2012. After the ban, he was arrested June 14, 2012, for allegedly urinating on a parked car near Bellevue Square mall, and was caught trespassing again that August at Lincoln Square’s Paddy Coyne’s bar.

Moffitt pleaded guilty last summer to a misdemeanor charge stemming from the urination incident. He reportedly paid a $1,407 fine and was given a suspended jail sentence of 24 months.

On Sunday, DNAinfo reported that Moffitt has been released on his own recognizance after the new charges.